The Reluctant Keeper
by Berrie Salamander
Summary: Rose discovers that she is good at Quidditch, but will she join the team or focus on her studies?


Thanks for all the reviews for all the one-shots so far! This one's Rose, and the next one will be Lorcan.

The Reluctant Keeper

It was early September 2021, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team were trying out for a new keeper and a new beater. Dominique Weasley, a chaser and captain, was on the verge of despair. So far, the members of the Quidditch team were all her family. The other two chasers were James and Roxanne. The beater they already had was Fred, and the seeker was Lily. For the keeper and beater, Dominique was hoping for someone who she wasn't related to. But everyone she'd seen fly so far did not seem up to her standards which, she had to admit, were pretty high. Hugo, another of her cousins, had tried out for keeper and beater, but with no success. He had never been as good at Quidditch as his other cousins. She glanced at the stands. Many people had turned up to watch, including Albus and Rose, Dominique's more studious cousins. They could have tried for the team, but they'd never been bothered about Quidditch. The next person to try out was a weedy looking third year, who seemed to be of a similar build to Hugo.

" Name?" Dominique asked him.

" Joe Rogers," he replied in an alarmingly high-pitched voice. He better not be trying out for beater.

" Which position?"

" Beater."

" Fine," she sighed, and handed him a bat. She and the rest of the team soared into the air, swiftly followed by Joe.

" Good luck Joe!"

" You can do it Joe!"

Down below in the stands, Rose was rolling her eyes at a small group of girls who were cheering for Joe.

" Honestly, they're all over him because he's _trying out_ for a position!" she exclaimed.

" Imagine what they'd be like if he got on the team," Albus muttered in Rose's ear. She groaned at the thought, but a second later brightened up.

" He probably won't get on the team, have you seen how weedy he -"

_Smack._ Rose's sentence was cut off when Joe whacked a bludger halfway across the pitch, narrowly missing Lily.

" You were saying?" smirked Albus as the girls nearby started screaming and clapping.

" I'm going to hex them if they don't shut up," Rose sighed, sinking lower into her seat.

Ten minutes later, Joe was the new beater. Now, the only position left was keeper. All the possible beaters left dejectedly, but the keeper tryouts continued.

" Rose?"

Hugo had crept up behind his sister. She turned to face him. He was still holding his broomstick.

" Oh, hi Hugo," she said. " What's up? I'm sorry you didn't make the team."

" That's okay," he shrugged. " I'm still the best at wizard chess. But will you tryout for keeper?"

" I – I don't think so," she spluttered. " I can't play…"

" You've never tried!" he persisted. " Please, will you try for me? There needs to be one of us on the team…"

" What do you mean? There's already five of us!" laughed Rose.

" You know what I mean! There needs to be a Granger-Weasley on the team. Will you try?" he pleaded.

" Fine," she huffed, standing up taking the broomstick from Hugo. " But I'm only doing this for you, okay?"

He nodded, and took her vacant seat. She hurried onto the pitch and ran over to Dominique.

" Oh, hey Rose!" she said, and she looked very surprised. " What are you - "

" I'm here to try out for keeper," she replied, her face getting steadily redder.

Dominique was temporarily lost for words.

" Um… okay…" she said. " We're just going to try out this person, than you can go, okay?"

Rose nodded. Dominique, James and Fred flew up into the air, accompanied by a girl with dark brown hair. She was a girl in Rose's year, Marie Thompson. And she was pretty good. She saved eight out of nine goals. The best keeper all day.

" Right Rose," said Dominique when they had all landed again. " I reckon Marie is our keeper, but I'll let you try out, since you're family."

" Thanks," she muttered, before mounting her broomstick. The only time she'd ever flown was in her flying lesson in the first year. She kicked hard off the ground, and soared towards the hoops.

" So far so good, Rosie, you haven't fallen off your broom yet!" James shouted at her, grinning, the quaffle in his hands. She positioned herself in front of the centre hoop, and braced herself. James came flying at her. When he was twenty - five feet away, he threw the quaffle towards the left hoop. Rose almost fell off her broom to catch it, but she managed it. The quaffle was firmly in her hands, and she chucked it to Roxanne. The three chasers had three shots each, and Rose caught all of them, some easily, some only just. She returned to the ground to much cheering from the Gryffindors.

" That was amazing Rose!" gasped Dominique. " Who knew you were so good at Quidditch? I wasn't going to have any more family on the team, but – welcome to the team!"

Rose hesitated. " I – I don't know if I want to be on the team," she said slowly. " I only tried out because Hugo wanted me to, and I think training might get in the way of my O. later this year."

" Ah, Rosie," said James. " You didn't even miss the tricky shots! With you we'll never lose a single match!"

" You already win all your matches," said Rose shortly. " It'll do you some good to have a keeper who occasionally misses."

" I'm sure you'll miss sometimes Rose," Fred chipped in. " Just like your father before you."

Rose looked at all their eager faces. They had all managed to pass their O. while being on the Quidditch team… and, she had to admit, Quidditch was pretty fun.

" Okay," she said finally. " I'll be on the Quidditch team."


End file.
